


Restless Sleep

by Anichibi



Series: Ani's Bad Things Happen Bingo [5]
Category: Tales of the Abyss
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Siblings, Asch being stubborn, Comfort, Gen, Luke being a sweet boy, Nightmares, Platonic Cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-11-02 12:22:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20744600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anichibi/pseuds/Anichibi
Summary: Prompt is probably very obvious, but iiiiiiits nightmares aka my favorite excuse for relationships of all kinds aHA this was also (very accidentally, i might add) influenced by Reflections, another Luke & Asch sibling au fic that takes the WHOLE GAME and rewrites it with Asch being the world's number one bro. please read it it's good and i love it very much. I'm not gonna slap the "inspired by" thing on here because it really wasn't, just a few small details like Luke having a locket. ANYWAY enough of my ramblings you came here for a fic and i am here to deliver





	Restless Sleep

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt is probably very obvious, but iiiiiiits nightmares aka my favorite excuse for relationships of all kinds aHA this was also (very accidentally, i might add) influenced by Reflections, another Luke & Asch sibling au fic that takes the WHOLE GAME and rewrites it with Asch being the world's number one bro. please read it it's good and i love it very much. I'm not gonna slap the "inspired by" thing on here because it really wasn't, just a few small details like Luke having a locket. ANYWAY enough of my ramblings you came here for a fic and i am here to deliver

_It was hard to breathe. Poison polluted the air of the Qliphoth. The weak cries of the people of Akzeriuth sinking into the mud haunted the young man's mind. Hands reached up, grabbing him and dragging him under. Sharp tugs on his hair, death grips on his arms, claw-like nails digging into his legs, as the people yelled and moaned curses at the boy. "You killed us." "This is the fate you deserve." "You damn, foolish child._

_The boy wanted to scream, cry and apologize for everything even if it was far too late now. But no sounds came out. No one would hear him. He saw his friends stare at him and watch him be pulled under, hatred and disgust on their faces. He freed an arm and reached out to them, his voice now suddenly working. He begged them to help. They ignored him. One by one, they turned their backs on him and walked away. The last thing he saw before the disgusting mud filled his lungs and clouded his vision was a curtain of red hair flowing as the man bearing the same face as him turned his back to him and disappeared from sight._

Luke shot up in the bed, gasping for air to fill his lungs. His hands clenched and unclenched on the bed, the blankets wrinkling as his shaking fists balled up with the sheets in hand. His throat felt tight and dry, and cold sweat drenched his body. He looked in the beds next to him. Both were occupied, Guy and Jade asleep, blissfully unaware of the terrors still fresh in the redhead's mind. He looked to his twin on the floor, where he insisted on sleeping. He was similarly still sleeping, thankfully. Asch was the last person Luke wanted to bother with his problems. The boy in the bed tried his best to relax his quickened breathing and the tears that were rolling down his face, but was unsuccessful in that endeavor. Instead, all he managed was a loud sob that caused him to quickly cover his mouth. His eyes darted around the room at the other three in with him, hoping none of them woke up.

Asch groaned as he rolled to his side, facing away from his twin. Then he suddenly shot up, the blanket flying off his body and Luke taking that as his cue to lie back down, turning his back to Asch. He could hear the other's deep, seemingly breathless gasping. Eventually, his breath calmed. "...Luke?" The boy in question did his best not to tense up. Asch's voice was just ever so slightly shaky, something Luke wouldn't have noticed lest he'd known him all his life.

Luke just kept silent, worried Asch would ask him why he was awake and what happened. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him, Luke concluded. Still, he could hear Asch's thoughts leaking through their connection. _"He's just sleeping, he's fine." "Can you really be sure about that?" "He's breathing, he's not dead, Asch. He's just fine."_ His thoughts flowed in a repetitive reassurance to himself. Luke had never, _ever_, heard Asch's voice sound so terrified, even if it was just his thoughts. It made Luke uncomfortable, like this wasn't right. Asch was supposed to be the brave one, the stoic twin, the one that would never be shaken by anything.

Against his better judgement, Luke feigned waking up, yawning and sitting up. Asch's broken thoughts stopped completely, and Luke spared a glance at the other and thought he saw his face light up. "Asch?" Luke sleepily asked, the other redhead snapping back to reality. Asch's face quickly shifted to his default expression, something Luke could tell he only did when he put his guard up. Which was often.

"You should go back to sleep. Good night, Luke." Asch lay back down, his back to Luke.

"Did you have a nightmare, Asch?" The redhead in question sat up again, looking at Luke with what seemed to be surprise. "I could hear your thoughts coming in through or connection. That's what woke me up." Luke explained. It was a bit of a white lie - Luke had already been awake - but regardless, he wanted to resolve his twin's issue.

"I...no, go back to sleep, Luke. It's late." Asch stubbornly replied, again laying down with his back to Luke.

"Asch, I want to help. Please?" Luke made sure to keep his voice low. Asch ignored him this time, and Luke sighed. He didn't want to bring his problems into this, but if it would get Asch to let him help, then so be it. "I had a nightmare too, Asch." This time, when Asch sat up again, his expression was near unreadable. All Luke could pick out was concern.

"I...what did you-"

"I'm not trying to make this about me, Asch. Can't you just let me help?" Luke patted the bed as he moved over a bit, offering the space to his twin. Asch considered it for a moment before he reluctantly obliged, sitting himself on the side of the bed. Luke urged him under the covers, and Asch rolled his eyes as he moved under the blanket.

"You sure you're not just doing this because you're freaked out and don't wanna ask me to sleep in bed with you?"

"I'm serious, and I said this wasn't about me, okay?" Luke shot back, slightly annoyed. Once the two were lying down, Luke hugged the other, much to the redhead's surprise.

"What're you-"

"C'mon, Asch. I know you're freaked out by that nightmare. Quit being strong for once." Luke's voice was stern, yet worried. Asch almost robotically hugged Luke back, Luke absentmindedly tracing circles on his back. Now, with Asch not quite able to distract himself fishing for ways to shift Luke's focus away from himself, he unwillingly let his mind wander a bit to that dream that was still very fresh. That moment Van had forcibly taken him from Akzeriuth, kicking and screaming, watching as the town his little brother was still in fell into the Qilphoth. He spent days worrying about if he was okay, spent days finding Yulia City in the Qliphoth, only to discover their group was missing a member and only had solomn and angered expressions to give. Asch didn't know his voice could sound so broken even in a dream, and he remembered Jade presenting a locket before Asch's knees gave out and he woke up.

The redhead sucked in a breath, trying to ignore the stinging in his eyes as he tried just going back to sleep. He was _not_ going to cry in front of his little brother. He'd hold those tears back for as long as he could, even if it killed him. However, once Luke was sleeping again, he did let just a few of those tears slip out and hugged the younger redhead just a bit tighter before he soon fell back into a dreamless sleep as well.


End file.
